Importance of the delegates (October 12, 2008) |
There will be around 850 delegates at Synod 2009. You the delegates are very important as you represent the 289,000 Catholics living in Trinidad and Tobago and on their behalf you will play a significant role in the formulation of the resolutions that will emerge from the third sitting of the Synod. Some people have claimed that it would have been easier to get six to eight people to formulate a few resolutions. No doubt that is true. However, that would simply be the thoughts of a few persons. The rest of the local Church would be absent. The resolutions formulated by these six to eight persons and given to the church to guide it on the next three to five years would be nothing less than an imposition. As good as the resolutions might be, they would not come from the 289,000 Catholics. So to ask them to study, accept and implement these resolutions would be very unfair because they were never part of any process. Their ideas, knowledge and experiences would not be considered. To ask them to buy into the resolutions would be difficult. There would be a feeling of disconnection. The Church in Trinidad and Tobago has decided to take the cumbersome route of getting together delegates from the parishes, ecclesial communities, schools and the members of the clergy and the religious life. Yes, the Church is inviting you to be an integral part of the process that will eventually formulate the resolution that will guide it for the next three to five years. This process began with the staging of the parish and vicariate assemblies in 2006 where three pastoral areas of responsibilities were considered – Family Life, Catechetics and Catholic Education. In 2007 the other five areas – Stewardship, Social Justice, Evangelisation, Catholic Communication and Youth occupied our attention. You the delegates were actively involved in these processes, your knowledge, experience and involvement helped formulate the parish resolutions which later became the resolutions from the vicariates. Now you are being asked to be part of the process which is the third sitting of the Synod. You will again help formulate resolutions that will be adopted as the way the Church will move forward over the next three to five years. So delegates, the Synod Team is asking you to take your role seriously. You will be helping the Church as it tries to be alive and present in Trinidad and Tobago. |